London seeks way to isolate extremists

Saturday

Mar 28, 2009 at 2:00 AM

The government has unveiled a new strategy designed to curb domestic Islamist radicalization. A rethink was certainly in order. The suspension of official ties with the Muslim Council of Britain was a vivid demonstration of the shortcomings of the previous strategy.

From The Independent, London

The government has unveiled a new strategy designed to curb domestic Islamist radicalization. A rethink was certainly in order. The suspension of official ties with the Muslim Council of Britain was a vivid demonstration of the shortcomings of the previous strategy.

In the wake of the London bombings of July 2005, the government invited the MCB to Downing Street for discussions on how to respond to the growth of extremism among young British Muslims. Public money was channeled to the organization to help it turn the young away from terror. But it turned out that, despite its name, the MCB was not actually representative of British Muslims, and it had little clout with those individuals the government needed to influence.

The problem is that British Muslims are a diverse and fragmented community. Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Somalis, Iraqis and Nigerians living in Britain all have different cultures, outlooks and economic circumstances. The lesson is that it would be better for the government to decentralize its approach to dealing with British Muslims.

The new strategy is right to advocate a verbal confrontation with those activists and preachers who advocate cultural separatism and intolerance. ... But the heartening news is that by standing up for the principles of moderation, and robustly isolating the preachers of intolerance, the government will be going with the grain of majority British Muslim opinion. The battle against radicalization is one that can and must be won.